THE TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY is a 4,860-mile tongue of pavement that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It's a smooth thoroughfare with wide shoulders that makes Canada's open spaces and rugged wilderness accessible to any driver with a good set of wheels and a desire to put them to use. I have driven on six continents and in dozens of countries since that honeymoon road trip, but none of those journeys has even remotely compared. And yet, I was a bit hesitant to drive in Canada again.

Why? Simple. The Canadian Rockies of my memory were a pristine and inviting wilderness, almost entirely devoid of tourists and chains. What if they were different the second time? What if they were slick and commercial and a little repugnant? But I gave in to the allure of gazing once again upon those unforgettable vistas - and am glad that I did. The Canadian Rockies had grown up, to be sure, hosting more amenities and bigger crowds ogling the spectacular emerald-colored lakes and ominous ­glaciers. But if anything, the mountains were more wondrous than I had remembered.

So, worries quickly set aside, I began to not just absorb the wonder and beauty everywhere outside the car window as the trip unwound, but also to meditate on the very nature of a great road trip. What components set them apart and make them great? Here's what I came up with.

SHORT DAYS AND PLENTY OF STOPS
The trip began upon arriving at the Calgary International Airport and very easily could have lapsed into the standard road-trip format: Get on the road early, drive hundreds of miles, gobble a hurried lunch, drive hundreds of miles more, find some hotel, and collapse into bed, repeating daily until finished. Covering as many miles as possible each day is the primary purpose.